


We Got A Good Thing

by dafeedil



Series: drug!verse [4]
Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: Domestic Bliss, Established Relationship, Family Fluff, Fluff, IN THE OIL AND WATER VERSE, Kid Fic, M/M, Married Life, Parenthood, Slice of Life, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, but like it's there bc this IS the same verse, even tho mentions of the oil and water plot are like, not very present or key in the plot, parents!malum, so much fuckin family life shit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-19
Updated: 2016-10-19
Packaged: 2018-08-23 09:23:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,652
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8322520
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dafeedil/pseuds/dafeedil
Summary: And just like that, Calum gets it.
God, of course. Why else would their daughter have come all the way down to their room at a quarter past ten, looking like she’s been trying to work up the courage to do so for hours?
“Holy shit.” Calum grins, practically vibrating with excitement. “Fuck, Mike, she’s going on a date.”
Or, Bella has her first date. It's a bigger deal for Michael than even Michael was anticipating for it to be.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [cherryraindrops](https://archiveofourown.org/users/cherryraindrops/gifts).



> Ayy Emi how's this for some super lame shit I hope it makes your not so great yesterday a little better.
> 
> Title comes from the Weezer song (Girl We Got A) Good Thing

When Calum gets home on Thursday evening, it’s to the sound of the television droning on in the living room, muffled through the walls surrounding the foyer as he kicks his loafers off and hangs the keys to his BMW up on the rack Michael had asked him to install a week after they’d moved into this place—their first _shared_ house. It’s such a little thing, but Calum’s heart still pounds whenever he sees Michael’s keys hung up on the hook beside his own every night.

He loosens his tie as he makes his way into the kitchen, smiling when he sees Michael filling four bowls full of the pot roast that Calum had started before heading off to work this morning. It’s been simmering away in the crock pot all day, and the smell is fucking _heavenly_ when Calum breathes it in deep.

In the living room, their son laughs wildly, likely caused by something that he’s watching.

“Hey,” Calum greets, and Michael doesn’t even seem startled by Calum’s sudden presence. Probably he’d heard the BMW pull up in the driveway, or at the very least heard Calum fussing with the ornery lock on their front door.

“Hey!” Michael says back, cheerfully. He turns to face his husband, giving Calum a wide grin before sticking his head out and pursing his lips impatiently.

Chuckling, Calum indulges him, leaning in to give Michael a quick peck before pulling back again to grab some silverware from the drawer. “Where’s Bella hiding?”

Michael hums, satisfied with the kiss he’s received. He gets back to work filling up the bowls, then says, “Upstairs, buried in her textbook. She’s got a quiz tomorrow. Math, I think. You know how she is.”

Calum nods, because he totally gets it. Bella’s always been pretty stressed about how her grades look on her report cards, keen on getting into a good University on the strength of her academics alone. She’s better than both of them ever were in school, certainly, so it’s not like Calum has any complaints about their teenage daughter being so keen on pursuing higher education, even at sixteen.

“S’dinner ready? I can hunt the two of them down, if you want.” Calum offers, and Michael nods eagerly. With a laugh, Calum sneaks one more kiss to the corner of Michael’s mouth, ignoring the way Michael snorts and halfheartedly shoves Calum away.

On his way to the staircase, Calum pokes his head into the living room, eyes lighting up as he watches Niko expertly clear another stage of the platformer Mali had given him for his last birthday. He’s only been eight for a month or so now, but Niko’s beat the game at _least_ three times since getting it, and Calum swears the kid is going to be something of a video game prodigy, if he doesn’t become a footie star first.

“Those things’ll rot your brain, y’know.” Calum reminds him, biting his lip on a massive grin when Niko immediately throws an unamused look over his shoulder. It floors Calum sometimes, how much their son looks like him. Niko’s got the same pudgy cheeks Calum (and even Mali) used to have when he was little, the same fluffy dark hair and chocolate eyes. It’s the same feeling he gets when he looks into Bella’s eyes and sees a younger version of his husband. Parenting freaks him out just a little bit more each day.

“That’s not true, Papa.” Niko fires back, and Calum snorts in spite of himself.

“Turn it off, ‘kay?” Calum asks, and Niko huffs, but crawls over to turn the console off regardless. “Dinner’s ready. Go help Dad set the table, and maybe we can negotiate an extension on bedtime?”

Niko lights up, throwing his controller on the couch as he pushes past Calum and heads toward the kitchen to help Michael. Calum beams at him, shaking his head fondly, before he turns and finally heads up the stairs like he’d originally intended to.

He walks past Niko’s room, taking a second to peer in and smiling at the neatness of the room. Their son has always been pretty clean, especially more so than Bella ever was, but Calum strongly suspects that’ll change as soon as he hits his teenage years.

The fish tank on Niko’s nightstand catches his attention, and for a few seconds, Calum watches as the colorful beta swims around in it. Even the tank is practically sparkling—Bella had helped him clean it over the weekend, thanks to Niko’s constant pleading.

(Calum can tell that Bella was hardly put out by it, though. The older both of his kids get, the more Calum’s starting to realize that they both totally and completely adore one another. He’s pretty sure not every sixteen year old would walk several blocks out of their way just to pick up their younger brother from the bus stop and walk home with him, and he’s pretty sure that not every eight year old boy would willingly hold his sister’s hand the whole way home. Hell, _he_ never did, and Mali _still_ picks on him for it.)

With a smile on his face, Calum continues down the hall, using two knuckles to softly tap on the closed bedroom door belonging to his daughter. There’s music playing, quiet enough so as not to disturb anyone else in the house, but also quiet enough that he doesn’t have to pound on the door to be heard.

“Come in!” Bella calls, and Calum twists the knob, pushing the door open about halfway and leaning against the doorframe to fill the space.

Bella’s hunched over on her bed, scribbling away on a piece of what looks like scratch paper, and her dirty blonde hair is hastily thrown up in a bun. She’s clearly already changed out of school clothes, opting for one of Michael’s old concert shirts and a pair of sweats. When she finally looks up to greet him, he can see she’s got her glasses on—the ones she _refuses_ to wear to school, and he outright _grins_ at the sight. He’s always thought she looked so _young_ again with them on.

“How was work?” She asks, and Calum’s heart warms. She’s always been so fucking _thoughtful_ , from the very moment he met her in Michael’s coffee shop almost twelve years ago to now.

“Don’t even.” Calum groans, rolling his neck on his shoulders for emphasis. It makes Bella giggle, before she shuffles all her papers together and sets them down at the end of her bed. “Dad says you have a quiz tomorrow?”

Bella pouts. “ _Might_ have one. Our teacher keeps dropping hints about things to study, and it makes me all nervous, you know?”

Calum nods. “I get it, kiddo. Teachers suck.” She huffs an agreement, and Calum gives her a wink. “I can try to help later, if you want. For now, though, dinner. Maybe some brain food will give you a second wind.”

Bella nods, pushing herself out of bed and stretching dramatically. Her spine pops, and Calum cringes, which sends her into another fit of laughter.

He follows her back downstairs, taking a brief detour to turn off the actual television that Niko had forgotten about. By the time he actually makes it to the dining room, Niko has finished setting the table, their kids are seated, and Michael’s setting a glass of water down in front of Bella.

“Sit down, babe.” Calum says, sliding a hand gently across Michael’s lower back as he makes his way to the kitchen. “I’ll grab you a drink. What would you like?”

Michael hums happily, giving Calum a grateful smile. “There’s some red wine in the fridge, wanna pour us each a glass?”

Calum nods, tapping his fingers on Michael’s waist twice before he points to Michael’s usual spot insistently. Michael rolls his eyes, but gives in, obediently walking over to his chair beside Niko and sitting down.

The wine Michael had been talking about is easy to find, but their favorite wine glasses are _not_ , so instead, Calum fills up two of the many plastic cups they’ve gradually confiscated from restaurant kids meals over the years. One of them has a picture of a tomato on it, faded from years of being run through the dishwasher, and the other appears to be from some Mexican restaurant chain.

When he sets the tomato cup down in front of his husband, Michael howls with laughter, and Calum can’t help the massive grin that overtakes his face at the sound. He gives Michael a little toast, and Michael wipes at his eyes, leaning all the way over the table just to give Calum a kiss on the cheek.

Ten years of marriage, and the gesture still makes Calum blush.

Niko makes a gagging noise, and Michael pinches the boy’s side like it’s some sort of punishment, even though he’s still laughing. Bella tries to be discreet about the way she buries her own chuckle behind her glass of water, but Calum sees it, and smiles to himself.

He had no idea that having a family would bring him this much _joy_ , every single day.

But he _does_ know that he won’t be trading it for _anything_ any time soon.

******

Calum follows through on his offer to let Niko stay up a little while past his bedtime, but it _is_ still a school night, so he tries not to be _too_ generous about it. Thankfully, Niko’s always been pretty agreeable, so when Calum comes to fetch him from the living room about half an hour after his usual bedtime, he doesn’t put up much of a fight.

It’s Michael that tucks their son in, most nights, so after Niko heads upstairs, Calum continues down the hallway on the first floor towards where he and Michael’s bedroom is. Bella had headed up to her room right after dinner, and Calum had let her go easily, recognizing how badly she must have been itching to get back to studying.

After Calum’s changed out of his work clothes and into a pair of loose sweats, he meanders into the adjoining bathroom to brush his teeth. It’s then that he hears his bedroom door open, and when Michael appears in the doorway to the bathroom, Calum beams at him.

“Hey.” Calum says, just like earlier in the evening. Saying it here, like this, though, is different. This time, it’s just for them. From here til the morning, Calum has Michael to himself, and that feels like something worth smiling about.

“Hey yourself.” Michael jokes, nudging Calum back to his own side of the bathroom counter so that he can open up the medicine cabinet and pull a container of floss off the first shelf. He clicks it open, pulling out a few inches, before offering the container to Calum, who shakes his head.

“How was your day?” Calum asks with a mouthful of toothpaste, and Michael rolls his eyes.

“Ugh, not great. One of the machines took a shit again. So I’m gonna have to figure out how to get that replaced before the week is up.” Michael vents, shaking his head in frustration before he leans in towards the mirror for a better look as he starts working the floss between his teeth. “Can’t exactly have a coffee shop with no espresso machine.”

Calum frowns. “That _sucks_ , babe. Didn’t you _just_ get it repaired?”

Michael gives him wide eyes, nodding in a way that looks irritated. “Yeah, I fucking _did_. So I need to get hold of the asshole who worked on it, too. See why my damn machines keep quitting on me.”

Calum spits into the sink, rinsing out his mouth and cleaning his toothbrush before setting it back in its holder. While Michael continues to work on his own teeth, Calum crosses his arms, leaning against the countertop.

“Between you and me, that shop took a really positive turn the second you bought it out.” Calum says, and he smiles softly when he meets Michael’s adoring gaze in the mirror.

Michael shakes his head, like he’s in disbelief. “I love you so much.”

Calum blushes. “I love you more.”

“Impossible.” Michael insists, giving Calum a toothy grin before he turns back to himself in the mirror.

With that, Calum pushes away from the counter, walking back into their bedroom and pulling their decorative pillows off the bed. He tosses them all on the floor carelessly, leaving nothing but the two pillows they use to sleep on, before he pulls back their heavy comforter.

As Calum is setting the alarm on his nightstand for tomorrow morning, Michael reenters the bedroom, pulling his shirt over his head and tossing it into the hamper near their dresser. While he works on undoing the button on his jeans, Michael says, “Hey, don’t forget, Bella’s going over to Luke and Ash’s tomorrow to work on that history project with Lily. One of us has to grab Niko from the bus stop.”

Calum winces. “Fuck, I have an appointment with a client at three.”

Michael doesn’t look happy to hear that, making a similar face. “I’m training a new assistant all day.”

Calum bites his lip, furrowing his eyebrows as he thinks. “Could your mom take him? I’m sure Niko wouldn’t mind an afternoon with his grandparents.”

Michael thinks it over for a second, before he shrugs and nods. “Yeah, that’s true. I’ll call her in the morning.”

Without another word on the matter, Michael slides his jeans down, throwing them in the same hamper that he’d tossed his shirt. He pulls back the sheets on their bed, climbing under the covers, and Calum laughs when Michael sighs exaggeratedly at the feeling of finally laying down for the first time all day.

Calum’s halfway into bed when there’s a hesitant knock on their bedroom door, and Michael gives his husband a curious look before Calum just shrugs, equally as confused.

“Yeah?” Calum calls, and just as softly as she’d knocked, Bella pushes open the door, looking a lot smaller than she usually tends to. For the most part, their daughter carries herself high, always radiates confidence and boldness. Now, though, she looks anything but.

“Izzy,” Michael starts, sitting up a bit. “You alright, sweetheart?”

Bella widens her eyes, scoffing a bit and waving Michael off like whatever she’s feeling is no big deal. Calum can tell that it probably _is_ , but he bites his tongue, hoping that Bella will get to what she needs to say on her own time.

“Me? Oh, yeah, I’m fine. Totally good.” She says quickly, and Calum almost laughs. By her tone _alone_ he can tell that she’s about to ask for something, even _before_ she clears her throat and adds: “I was just, um. Wondering. If I could, like, _borrowthecaronSaturday_?”

Calum quirks an eyebrow. He hadn’t been expecting _that_ , truthfully. But it’s not like they haven’t loaned her one of their two vehicles before. She’s a good, legal driver, so Calum hasn’t ever seen a reason _not_ to give her that privilege.

“On Saturday?” Michael wonders. “What for?”

Bella fidgets, looking just a little bit like she maybe wants to spontaneously combust. Like the very thought of telling Michael exactly _what_ _for_ is what’s _making_ her blush and go all silent like this.

And just like that, Calum gets it.

_God_ , of _course_. Why _else_ would their daughter have come all the way down to their room at a quarter past ten, looking like she’s been trying to work up the courage to do so for _hours_?

“Holy shit.” Calum grins, practically vibrating with excitement. “Fuck, Mike, she’s going on a _date_.”

Bella blushes even more furiously than she’d already been beginning to, rolling her eyes like she’s pretending to be irritated, rather than embarrassed, which Calum hadn’t necessarily intended to make her feel.

“Papa, don’t swear.” She says, but it’s not a _denial_ , and that’s what makes Calum nearly scream. “It’s not a big deal, okay? I’m not trying to make a big deal out of it, _he’s_ not making a big deal out of it, I just—”

Calum waves her off, finding himself unable to stop _smiling_. “You can take the BMW, Bells.”

Michael seems to suddenly wake up and join the conversation, then, since he fully sits up in bed, turning to give Calum a look that resembles _betrayal_. Calum frowns back, unsure what exactly he could’ve done _wrong_ , before Michael is shifting to face their daughter, who’s still standing in their doorway, trying her best not to look overly excited.

“When did you start dating?” Michael asks brashly, and Calum suddenly tenses at the harsh tone. He can see Bella trying not to wince too overtly, and Calum opens his mouth to defend her, but Michael’s already continuing. “Do we even know this boy? I’m not sending you out with someone I’ve never fucking _met_ , Isabella. Sorry. That’s not happening.”

Bella frowns deeply, crossing her arms over her chest defensively. Calum wonders if he should break this up before it even begins, because Michael and their daughter are _far_ too similar, will butt heads for _hours_ before they finally come to an agreement on something, if time will allow for that. As rare as an argument between the two of them is, Calum’s not sure if he can sit through one of their spats tonight.

“Dad, come on. He’s _nice_ , okay? I met him in my math class.”

Michael scoffs. “Yeah, okay. Because _that’s_ gonna change the way I feel about you going out with some guy I _still_ haven’t _met_.”

Calum puts his hands up, firmly says, “ _Enough_.” He’s careful not to be too loud, not wanting to wake an inevitably sleeping Niko, but it’s a high enough volume to get the full attention of his husband and daughter. Both of them look so rigid and upset, and Calum knows they’re going to get nowhere tonight, so he doesn’t bother trying to cut anyone a deal right now.

“Bells, honey, go to bed. We can talk more tomorrow, okay?” Calum offers, and after a moment’s hesitation and a fleeting glance at Michael, Bella nods. Calum gives her a long look before she goes, one that he hopes says he’s going to make everything okay. He knows she’s read it clear as day when she gives Calum a gentle smile before backing out of their room, closing the door behind her.

For a long minute after Bella is gone, neither of them say anything. Calum still climbs into bed and turns off his lamp, and Michael does the same to the lamp on his own nightstand, and even as they’re suddenly wrapped in darkness, neither of them says a thing.

It’s not until Calum is almost certain Michael has fallen asleep that Calum says, “She didn’t deserve that.”

Michael scoffs. “What? She doesn’t deserve for us to look out for her?”

Calum rolls his eyes, turning over onto his side to face his husband of a decade. “Mike, you practically _attacked_ her. Jumped down her throat about _one_ date with _one_ boy. That’s _not_ fucking fair.”

Michael fidgets on the bed, like he can’t even keep still with all the disbelief and betrayal he’s apparently feeling at Calum’s words. “What, and _you’re_ okay with our little girl running off with your car to see some boy you know nothing about?”

Calum bites his tongue. He knows what Michael’s hinting at, knows by the sharpness to Michael’s words that his husband is trying to remind Calum of all the stupid mistakes they’d made with one another at Bella’s age. To remind Calum of the times he’d taken his parents’ car over to Michael’s to smoke and fuck and be generally corrupted multiple times a week.

But Calum also knows that it’s an unfair argument. “Bella’s not _me_ , Michael. She’s not gonna make the stupid mistakes you and I did. You know firsthand how much she wants to get into Uni, to get on student council. Do you really think she’d throw all that away? Don’t you think she’s got better judgment than that?”

Michael goes silent, and for a long moment, Calum thinks he’s had the last word. Not that he necessarily wanted or _needed_ to have it, but it feels like a breakthrough regardless.

And then, Michael whispers, “I know we raised her not to make our mistakes. It’s not _Izzy_ that I’m worried about.”

Calum softens, reaching out to caress his fingers down the line of Michael’s jaw. He feels dampness on Michael’s cheeks, tears of what must be _worry_ , and Calum coos.

“Oh, Mikey.” Calum murmurs. “She’s not a _baby_ anymore. We can’t protect her from every single person on this planet. We can’t keep her from making any potential mistakes.” He stops the movement of his fingers, turning his hand to cup the entirety of Michael’s cheek in his palm. “We can’t protect her from getting her heart broken, or from feeling regretful about a choice she’s made. We just have to hope we raised her well enough that she can handle those things the right way when the time comes.”

Michael closes his eyes, nodding, and Calum leans forward to give him a long, gentle kiss.

“You trust me, right?” Calum asks.

“Of course.”

“And you trust our daughter, right?”

Michael frowns. “Of course.”

Calum smiles softly, smoothing his thumb over Michael’s bottom lip ever so gently. “Then let her do this. Trust her to be smart, trust that you and I have done the very best job raising her that we could, yeah?”

Michael sighs heavily, his breath coming in shakily, but he nods, and that’s all Calum needs from him.

And because Michael deserves to know how thankful Calum is for his cooperation, Calum kisses him until his mouth hurts and he’s too exhausted to keep doing it anymore.

******

When Saturday finally comes around, Calum is sort of thankful that Michael’s out working at the coffee shop. While he normally hates that Michael doesn’t get home on Saturdays until early evening, Calum’s pretty sure that the amount of preparation Bella is putting into her date would’ve driven his husband up the wall.

Bella had been thrilled when Calum told her he’d managed to knock some sense into her father, and he’d laughed when Bella hugged him so tight he very nearly lost the ability to breathe afterwards. She’d emitted this high pitched _squeal_ that Calum’s _never_ heard come out of her mouth before when he promised her the BMW for the entire evening, and he swore that the girl might’ve actually imploded when he told her he’d even bend the rules and extend her curfew to midnight instead of eleven, so long as she checked in at least twice.

Calum hasn’t seen her for nearly two hours when Michael finally gets home. He’s been curled up on the couch watching footie with Niko, for the most part, teaching the boy some of the more complex rules and beaming when Niko just _gets_ _it_ on the first try.

“Is Izzy upstairs?” Michael suddenly asks, stood in the archway connecting the living room to the hallway.

Calum nods, giving his husband a little ‘welcome home’ smile. “Probably fussing over what to wear. I think she’s been on the phone with Lily about it for, like, an hour.”

Michael chuckles, walking over to the couch to give each of his boys a kiss on the forehead. With his lips still brushing Calum’s, Michael whispers, “M’gonna go see if I can help at all.”

Calum hums, giving Michael a massive smile. “You’re a great dad, you know.” Calum tells him, and Michael blushes.

“Tell me something I don’t know.” Michael jokes, but Calum can easily pick out the underlying bit of sincere flattery laced throughout the words. Calum knows that all Michael’s ever wanted since Bella was born is to be a halfway decent father.

“When can I go on a date?” Niko asks.

“When you’re _thirty_.” Michael deadpans, and Calum wheezes on an unexpected burst of laughter.

******

Michael’s surprised when Isabella throws her bedroom door open no more than two seconds after he’s knocked on it. Her room looks like a tornado has torn through it, clothes strewn everywhere, but the simple jeans and blouse combination she appears to have settled on is classy in a way that relieves Michael’s nerves about her going out tonight just a bit.

Her makeup is subtle, but well applied, and Michael wonders how the hell she learned to put it on. He and Calum sure as hell didn’t teach her.

He feels a little bit like she grew up when he wasn’t even looking. It makes his chest tight just thinking about it. 

“I’m freaking the hell out, Dad.” She says, her voice shaky, and Michael frowns.

“Why?” Michael wonders genuinely. “You look great, honey.” 

“My _hair_ ,” Izzy groans, leaving her door open as she walks back over to her vanity mirror, throwing herself down onto the bench in front of it. She runs a hand through her hair, making another frustrated noise, and Michael feels for her.

He remembers wanting to impress people. He remembers wanting to impress the person he liked, the person he now _loves_. He knows it’s not easy, especially the first time around. 

“What’s really wrong, Iz?” Michael asks softly, walking up behind her and placing his hands on her shoulders.

In the mirror, she meets his eyes, and Michael can suddenly see all the nervousness, all the traces of _unsure_ and _anxious_ that’re dancing around in her head.

Gently, Michael tells her, “He’s going to adore you, Rockstar. Anyone with a functioning brain would.”

Izzy smiles, eyes crinkling with the force of it, and she reaches up to squeeze his hand that’s still resting on her shoulder. It’s a silent ‘thank you’, one she might not be able to say right now, but Michael understands it all the same.

“Hand me an elastic, would you?” Michael asks, and Izzy does, reaching out to her container of them on the vanity and passing one to him. He holds it around his wrist, then starts working practiced fingers through her sandy colored hair in a way that’s still so familiar, despite that he hasn’t done this for her in several years. It’s the one thing _Michael_ always did for her, because Calum never learned how to do it right himself.

Izzy seems to recognize the feeling of Michael braiding her hair the very second he gets into the rhythm, and she emits a watery laugh. She keeps watching him in the mirror while he works, eyes wide and full of emotion.

When Michael secures the hair band around the end of her braid, Izzy turns around on the bench, looking up at Michael with eyes that’re brimming with tears, and Michael catches her easily when she throws herself at him with arms wide open.

With her face buried in his shoulder, Izzy whispers, “You’ll always be my favorite. You and Papa.” When Michael chuckles, she adds, “No, I mean it. You’re always number one. No boy will ever mean as much to me as you two do.”

It’s a nice thought, and even though Izzy’s still got plenty of time to grow up and change her mind on that promise, Michael decides that for now, that’s what he’s going to hold on to.

******

They’re not perfect parents. They’ve been working on it together for twelve years, and they’re still not perfect, and they never will be.

But their kids still look at them like they have all the solutions to the problems life might throw at them, and still look up to them like they’re actual superheroes, so Michael guesses that’s as close to perfect as anyone could ever get.

He guesses they’ve got a pretty damn good thing.

**Author's Note:**

> hmu on [tumblr](http://dafeedil.tumblr.com/) m8


End file.
